


Dangerous

by cyanideinsomnia



Series: Post-Banishment Lucio [6]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Attempted Murder, Bad Decisions, Canon-Typical Violence, Death Threats, Emotional Baggage, Gen, Gender-Neutral Apprentice (The Arcana), Male Pronouns for Asra (The Arcana), Mental Instability, Mentioned Apprentice (The Arcana), Nadia (The Arcana) Route - Upright Ending, Post-Banishment Lucio (The Arcana), Post-Canon, beating up an old man, faust is not paid enough for this shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26172400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyanideinsomnia/pseuds/cyanideinsomnia
Summary: "No, but-- I just don't want to risk ███████’s safety. I know they can make their own choices but--"But it wasn't about ███████ anymore, was it?
Series: Post-Banishment Lucio [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680019
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Dangerous

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Don't Feed The Animals](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23523778) by [cyanideinsomnia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyanideinsomnia/pseuds/cyanideinsomnia). 



> direct sequel to Don't Feed The Animals
> 
> mc's name is redacted bc it's no one in particular and the pronouns were getting awkward in some parts, especially in dialogue

He found Lucio in the same grove of trees he’d left him, indicating he hadn’t run that far. 

There was no telling how much time had passed on this side. The only real indication was that he wasn’t crying or half-naked anymore, which made it that much easier to approach. The bastard immediately turned towards him with a dumb look on his face, probably expecting his former apprentice.

The moment he came within arms' reach, Asra punched him in the face.

It sent him staggering back against the nearby tree, flesh hand coming up to clutch his jaw as if checking to see if it was broken, eyes wide like dumb silver saucers. “What the hell was that for?!”

“You know damn well what it’s for!” Asra snarled, lashing out to grab his arms and pin him more completely up against the tree. “Stay away from ███████!”

His captive squirmed, but made no move to push him away just yet, and some part of him took perverse pleasure in how he could already feel his pulse ticking up in his grasp, pounding a mile a minute, like holding an extraordinarily greasy rabbit.

"Hey, now, you can't pin this on me - I didn't know they were  _ here _ until I smelled pumpkin bread. What was I supposed to do, starve??"

"Yes, actually!"

"You're just jealous they didn't feed you any." The smug grin at this was very short lived as Asra let magic gather in his hands, still tightly gripping his arms, dangerously close to burning him. There was a wild animal look in his eyes, staring down at the hands instead. "I-I wasn't going to hurt them, I swear. I  _ can't _ hurt them."

The magician growled. " _ Liar _ . That's all you know how to do. You hurt and kill and destroy. You're  _ dangerous _ ."

Arguably  _ more _ dangerous now that he had nothing to lose. If he let him slip free of his grasp, even for a moment, he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

"Besides  _ you _ , ███████ is the only human being I've seen in-- a while. Why the hell would I  _ kill _ them?" Lucio scoffed. "How have you been wandering with your head that far up your ass?"

One hand leapt up to punch him in the face again before he could stop himself, the crackle of magic like fire against his skin. This time he yelped in pain, pressing back against the tree as if he could escape through it, practically cringing away from him. For a brief moment, Asra's conviction slipped, a brief twinge of guilt as he saw the edges of an unnatural colored bruise forming on one gaunt cheek.

Then the bastard  _ laughed  _ \- a sound like rattling bones - and he was angry all over again.

"You feel big and tough now, beating up an old man?" The sneer was crooked, as if he’d almost forgotten how to make them, eyes still wild. "Tsk, what would your  _ parents _ think?"

Asra felt his gut drop, anger turning to fury. 

It had been  _ decades _ since he took them away from him, thousands of places, millions of stories, countless friends and enemies, whole lifetimes between realms - and within an instant that wound was ripped wide open as if it was just yesterday. By now he'd damn well given up on finding them, and that's what hurt the most.

Lucio seemed to realize this was absolutely the wrong thing to say, quickly mumbling something to backtrack he didn't bother paying attention to before grabbing him by the scrawny throat instead, magic still burning in his fingertips, lacing across the shaking flesh in his grip. This time he didn't care if it hurt him - in fact, he found he  _ enjoyed _ that it hurt him.

"Being trapped here was too  _ kind _ a fate for you."

He could end this here and now. All it would take was a hard squeeze. A quick  _ thought,  _ magic seeping in to snap his neck. He could feel it seeping in now, pointed tendrils burrowing beneath the skin, his captive's eyes going wide as he undoubtedly felt it too. Really realizing the danger he was in.

"I'm not going to let you ruin their life the same way you did mine. Or anyone else's."

His grip tightened, and the other man gave a pathetic little whimper, the glimmer of tears beading up in wide animal eyes, trying to cringe away from him again despite being in his grasp. He could feel his panicked heartbeat thundering in his ears as if it was his own.

"Wait, wait, stop, don’t-- don't kill me, please-- I'll do anything--"

"Yeah?" He shouldn't indulge this. There wasn't anything he wanted from him. Nothing he could  _ reasonably _ provide, in any case.

Lucio whimpered again and bobbed his head in a quick little nod. “A-anything you want. Just name it.”

Then again,  _ his  _ demands hadn't always been reasonable, had they?

"Get on your knees and beg me for forgiveness."

Against his better judgment, he slowly loosened his grip on his neck. For the moment the disgraced ex-Count just stupidly gawked down at him, as if he couldn't - or wouldn't - comprehend his demand. It only served to piss him off that much more.

"I said--" 

He slammed his knee into his gut, forcing him to double over and drop to the ground like a stone, catching himself on his hands and knees instead. He found he liked that position better, mangy mop of hair hanging down his face, body shaking and probably not from holding up his meager weight, gasping for breath.

" _ Get on your damn knees _ ."

"Y-you didn't give me enough time." He weakly croaked, still petulant despite his position. "Will you let me go if I throw up?"

Asra growled and pressed one foot against the back of his neck, slowly stepping down until his arms began to bow out, body trembling that much harder beneath him. "You've  _ had  _ time. Now start begging before I change my mind."

He heard him starting to say something that sounded a lot like more  _ excuses _ instead, and he immediately put more pressure against his neck, shoving his face into the dirt. There was a muffled sob, his hands blindly grabbing for the other leg, clawing at it like he expected it to save him.

"I'm-- I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-- please forgive me--" He sounded like he was crying outright down there. "I was just hungry and lonely and they were nice to me--"

He stepped down harder.

"Hgk-- I'll stay away from them, I swear! You made your point! Please stop, it hurts-- I’m sorry--"

"That's not good enough!"

The crying became  _ wailing _ , desperate fingers digging into his pant leg. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I-I'm a pathetic worm and an awful excuse for a human being and-- and whatever else you think I am-- just make it stop,  _ please-- _ "

Something inside him twisted, and he let go of his neck in order to kick him in the gut again, using it to flip him on his back, a tangle of trembling limbs and furs across the grass. He wasn't sure what he intended to do to him, but it sure as hell wasn't going to involve letting him walk away from this. He wasn't sure if he would be able to walk at all.

"N-no, no, I did what you said--" Lucio gasped out, the look on his face indicating his own expression belied his intentions. "I held up my end of the bargain, Asra, I did what you wanted-- please don't--"

" _ I want my parents back, you son of a bitch! _ "

Asra moved to stomp down on his neck again, hard enough to break it - only to be stopped by a coil of lavender scales curled across his target.

_ Friend.  _ Her voice intoned, melancholic. Like a soft frown in his mind.

"He's not our friend, Faust." He grunted, stepping back. "Get out of the way."

Faust remained nestled up under Lucio's chin as if she belonged there, stubborn as always. Lucio was lying dead still beneath her, staring at her and then up at him in alarm, tears still falling freely down dirty cheeks.

"She's  _ protecting _ me?? I-- I didn't tell her to do that, I swear." He hiccuped, cringing away from him. "I'm sorry."

_ Too far.  _

"It's not--"

She was still frowning at him in his head.  _ Kill a goat? _

"I wasn't going to.." Yes, he was. He was trying to kill him. He groaned and shook his head. "Come on, Faust, you know what he's done. What he's capable of."

_ Hurt. Scared. Weak. _

She shifted against him and made as if to bite, a slow and very obvious feint, watching the great Count Lucio flinch away from clumsy lavender jaws with a soft whimper that may have been another broken apology.

"That doesn't make it all okay. He hurt people."

_ Hurting now? _

"No, but-- I just don't want to risk ███████’s safety. I know they can make their own choices but--"

But it wasn't about ███████ anymore, was it? It was about revenge. Suffering as penance for suffering. Putting him in his place. 

That thought by itself made him feel sick. That was something people like  _ Lucio _ did, 'putting people in their place'. He'd stooped to his level, and was clearly looking to dig a deeper level under that. 

This time the bastard seemed to have the presence of mind to keep his mouth shut, instead just staring up at him, eyes wide and helpless, shaking like a leaf in the wind, waiting for him to finish the job with or without Faust. He looked small and pathetic and old, like how he'd been on his deathbed, except the claws from then had clearly been stripped from him by whatever Nadia and her spouse did to him. 

The man he wanted dead may have already died in the realms, leaving behind this frightened husk.

_ Help a goat?  _ Faust asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Asra huffed, leaning over said husk to reach for his familiar, a pang of guilt running through him as Lucio flinched away from him again, clearly expecting more pain.

God, he could feel that primal terror practically  _ oozing _ off of him now that his own anger wasn't a distraction. He felt trapped and jumpy, like the air itself was threatening to hurt him, buzzing painfully against his skin. Now he had another reason he couldn't stand to be near him.

Faust gently nuzzled one gaunt cheek before crawling up onto Asra's arm, casually slithering the rest of the way up to his neck. She still seemed a bit disappointed, but content enough that she had successfully stopped him.

He glanced down at Lucio, heaving a deep sigh. 

".. go away, Lucio."

The older man looked as if to question this, and then whimpered and gathered himself upright enough to sprint back into the bushes, once again vanishing from sight.

"He was right, you know." Asra said after a moment. "I do want ███████ to feed me pumpkin bread."

_ Bread! _

"Let's go get some."

**Author's Note:**

> i realize faust would probably be yes murder, however, murdering seems to be some Reversed Shit, and faust is not quite THAT chaotic

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Taming Him Down](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26200111) by [cyanideinsomnia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyanideinsomnia/pseuds/cyanideinsomnia)




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